Bedford Gazette: Lawmakers Must Act on PBMs

By Jennifer Riley, Patients Come First Pennsylvania’s Executive Director

Editor, Gazette:

Rural Pennsylvania is facing a worsening healthcare crisis, marked by long travel distances for care, shrinking provider networks, and a surge in "pharmacy deserts"—areas where residents struggle to access essential medications.

In Bedford County alone, more than 70% of the county has an elderly population enrolled in a state assistance program living in a pharmacy desert. Statewide, an estimated 540,000 rural Pennsylvanians — 27% — live at least five miles from the nearest pharmacy.

Read the full letter-to-the-editor here.